Our Home is Their Home

This past weekend found the Dogfather and I busy with home (decor) improvement projects. I have always envisioned my home to reflect the type of person I am: colorful, refreshing, relaxed, and warm. I want people to feel like they can come over and enjoy our home with us.
We have lived here 5 years now and we are still decorating. It's expensive! Considering it took the Dogfather two years before he agreed to put some paint on the walls, I can only accept that this will be an ongoing process. Over the weekend we put delicate periwrinkle print drapes up in Miss Precious' room, printed out photos to replace our photo collage frames, and the Dogfather put in non-skid mats on the two hardwood floor staircases.
Mats, you say? Yes. Nice, sturdy, rubber-backing, mats. Up the back stairs and up the main staircase. They are not the most decorative pieces we have ever put in our home but one of the most necessary. These mats are for our Riley-Roo. He has fur that grows out from between the toes of his paws. It gets long and is very slippery on the hardwood floors. Especially when there is a race to get down the stairs while the black fury (aka Sabrina) is tumbling behind you.
We have considered time and time again how we should dress the stairs but every option just didn't seem right. Long runners up and down the stairs seemed too formal. Separate carpet squares only came in ugly colors and seemed too permanent as they required nailing. The mats we got are just charcoal. Simple, thin, and CHEAP! The Dogfather simply took each mat (they are sold as doormats) and took an Exacto knife down the middle of each one. Whoala. It took a little coaxing and special treats to teach Riley to actually walk on them (he actually tried to walk around them) but now he gets it. Ah! They did this for me!

Yes, my dear Bernerboy, this is your home too.